


place your head on my beating heart

by realmsoffreedom



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, babygate, kinda angsty but it's not too bad, sophiam breakup is just mentioned, the aftermath of the brits basically, this is just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 14:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6119991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realmsoffreedom/pseuds/realmsoffreedom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The aftermath of the Brits.</p><p>Or, Louis is exhausted when he gets home and Harry is the best boyfriend in the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	place your head on my beating heart

**Author's Note:**

> my friend and I were talking a couple days ago and she came up with the idea and I decided to write it bc it was too good not to write and i'm a slut for vulnerable louis and comforting harry
> 
> babygate is talked about quite a bit and i personally don't believe the baby is real or anything so that's reflected in the fic (no offense to those who do believe what you want idc), but if that bothers you, don't read
> 
> enjoy

Louis is drained. 

The Brits were fun, there’s no denying that. He’s considered a huge celebrity now, and the perks are really nice. Not that he asked for any of them, but nonetheless, he’s not going to refuse people offering to bring him things and make sure his night is the best it can be. And getting to see Liam, screwing around with him and acting like children, that was really fucking amazing. 

But being in front of the cameras has its price. It means management is directly involved in the entire night – he has to watch what he says, how he acts, the way he looks to everyone watching him – because god fucking forbid he looks bored or uninterested, the media will inevitably turn it into, he hates being there and wishes he were home with Briana and the baby. 

The baby is another thing in itself. It’s stupid, really. That management thought everyone would buy the story. Of course, the media is having a field day with the entire thing, but it’s all so fabricated. The girl is nice and the baby is adorable, but Freddie doesn’t exist and Briana was never pregnant. The pictures she ever so carefully posted on Instagram are stolen, and any pictures of him with his aforementioned “child” are photo shopped. 

The fans have caught onto it very quickly, and that restores his faith in them. They’ve believed in the reality all along. He and Harry have had something special since the X-Factor days. He gets a warm feeling in his chest when he thinks about those days – when everything was simple. When he didn’t have to watch his back all the fucking time in public, because there could be a camera or a fan watching him wherever he goes. It was so much easier.

The story goes exactly how most fans have figured out. After they signed with Modest, they were told that the idea of two out of five (now four) members of the band taken, dating each other, moreover, was not going to sell well. Boybands are so highly marketed because of their audience – teenage girls. And according to Modest, teenage girls aren’t going to like them if only three (two) are “available”.

It’s stupid. It was stupid when they first brought it up, and it’s only gotten dumber in the five years they’ve been forced to live the lie. God, why is it such a big deal if he sits next to Harry in interviews and interacts with Harry onstage and acts like they have some semblance of a friendship between them? He acts like that with Liam and Niall, and it’s not like the fans believe he’s dating either of them. Management’s logic is fucked, really. 

But back to the Brits tonight, there were parts that were utter torture. He had to talk about his son and how fatherhood is, when he was being interviewed. It was so hard to fake the persona he’s been told to put on for the whole baby thing. It was so fucking hard to act like he’s really enjoying being a father, even saying it made his skin crawl and his head ache. He can’t imagine how Harry felt, watching it back. 

Shaking his head, he sighs, pressing closer to Liam and closing his eyes. They’re on their way home now. The limo driver is carefully making his way through the back roads, because neither of them is in the mood to deal with paps right now. It’s been a long night.

“Five minutes, Lou,” Liam whispers, a hand on his back. He’s close to panicking from how on he’s had to be tonight. Sometimes it’s too much, having to act in front of the cameras and pretend the only place he’d like to be isn’t Harry’s arms. It gets hard. “Harry’s probably waiting for you like a worried mum.”

Louis barks out a laugh that almost sounds choked from the emotion building in his chest. “He is a worried mum.”

“I wish I had someone to worry about me like that,” Liam jokes. Louis can see the darkness in his eyes, and he sighs. The breakup with Sophia is still fresh, and Liam obviously isn’t over it. He really loved her. Wanted to marry her, even. The split was mutual, but it doesn’t mean Liam’s any less heartbroken.

“Have you spoken to Soph recently?”

Liam stiffens against him, snatching his hand away from his back. Louis winces, knowing he’s struck a nerve. The Liam/Sophia break up is still a mystery to him. Liam still hasn’t told him any of the details, just that it was a mutual thing and there are no hard feelings. He wishes Liam would be more open with his feelings. It’s hard to be a good best mate when you don’t know how to help. “Called her a couple weeks ago. She’s doing great, she’s really happy. That’s all I wanted.”

“Liam-”

Liam swallows, shaking his head. “No, Lou. Go be with your boy. You don’t need to babysit the basket case any more tonight. What happened was enough. I’ll be alright.”

“You know you can call me whenever you need me, right?” There’s something special about Liam too, the way they became best friends after hating each other during the X-Factor. Louis remembers despising Liam’s father-like mannerisms and serious attitude, and how Liam used to hate his joking around and immature attitude. But Liam’s mellowed out quite a bit, and Louis has gotten more serious over the years. Kinda shows the influence they’ve had on each other.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Louis continues, when Liam doesn’t answer his first question. “I can stay-”

“You need Harry tonight, Lou,” Liam replies. “And I’m fine. Gonna Skype Zayn and then go to bed. I’m good, promise.”

Just as he speaks, the driver pulls up at Louis and Harry’s shared flat. It’s one the fans don’t know about, obviously. If they did, the internet would break over ‘Larry Stylinson living together again’. Not that Louis wouldn’t love that, but their management team would have a conniption. 

Louis shoots one more cautious glance at Liam as he gets out of the vehicle, shaking the driver’s hand and slipping him a fiver. 

He hears the limo drive off behind him as he walks up to the door. Harry left the light on outside for him, and he can see in through the windowpanes that there are lights on inside as well. Of course Harry waited for him. It’s almost 3 in the morning and he’s probably dead tired, but Louis knew he would wait. It was no use telling him not to bother. There’s no arguing with him. 

The door swings open in front of him before he can even take out his keys. He doesn’t have to say anything, because after five and a half years of doing this, Harry just knows. 

He pushes his head into the crook of Harry’s neck, and just breathes. In, and out. In, and out. Something as easy as breathing shouldn’t be this hard, but it is.

“I’ve got you, Lou.”

They’re just four words, but they mean everything to Louis. He can finally let go and stop putting up the front he has been for the past few hours. With Harry, he’s uninhibited. Himself. The person he wishes he could be.

Harry scoops him up easily, and he just lets himself go limp in his boyfriend’s arms. Harry will take care of him. Harry is the only one he trusts enough to be this vulnerable around. Harry loves him.

He knows he smells like perfume and he’s kinda drunk, but Harry doesn’t mind it at all. He’s used to this. Sometimes it makes Louis feel bad, especially since he got to go to the show tonight and because he did, Harry wasn’t allowed to. It’s unfair.

Harry helps him get out of the stuffy suit he was forced to wear, and into their large Jacuzzi tub. He presses kisses to Louis’ thighs and murmurs sweet nothings as he does so, and it makes Louis feel even guiltier. 

Harry gets in behind him, slotting his legs around Louis’ hips and letting Louis lean against him. His exhausted boy goes lax against Harry’s chest, and he closes his eyes. Harry massages his shoulders gently, kneading to get the knots out but being ever so gentle with him. He treats Louis’ body like a temple, gentle and careful, as if he might do something wrong one day and mar the precious being his boyfriend is. 

“M’sorry,” Louis whispers, after a while. His eyes are still closed and Harry’s in the middle of working shampoo into his hair, massaging his scalp.

“What for, beautiful?” Harry’s hands still in his hair and he leans down to press a kiss to Louis’ cheek. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“You should’ve come tonight. It would’ve been so much better if you had. I hate what management keeps doing, and the whole baby thing has to have you on edge and I’m surprised you haven’t left me yet because most people would-”

“Louis, stop.” Harry cuts him off abruptly, a certain softness in his tone that Louis isn’t very familiar with. “Listen to me. I love you, so much, more than I’ve ever loved anything in my entire life. You’ve slowly become my whole world, Louis. And baby gate isn’t your fault. None of this is your fault. This is all management, and we’re just about to leave them anyway. And then you and I can finally go public and everything will all work out. So please, don’t worry about me leaving you because of any of this. I know you, and I know you love me. That’s all that matters.”

“I’m just so tired…” Louis’ voice breaks on the last word. “This is all so exhausting. I’m so sick of acting for the cameras. I wish we could’ve gone public when we first got together. I just…I don’t know how much longer of this I can take.”

A finger brushes over his cheek and then a pair of lips replaces it. “You’re so strong for putting up with it all these years, my love. And it’s almost over. You’ve almost made it. The light at the end of the tunnel is so near. You can do it, baby. _We_ can do it. I’m right here with you, no matter what. I always will be. I love you so much, Lou, you have no idea…”

“You’ve put up with so much for me,” Louis whispers. “All the fake girlfriends and now the fake baby and me having to kiss and go on dates with other women…none of this is fair to you. ‘m not worth all this. ‘m really not. You don’t need to stay, Hazza. I’ll get on without you.”

“Hey now, stop that nonsense,” Harry scolds. “I’m not going anywhere, my love. I’ve been year over five years, and I’ll be here for the next five, and the five after that, and the five after that, until we both reach the end, when we’re 110 and curled up together in our bed. That’s when this will be over. Not any sooner. That’s not something you should be worrying about, Lou.”

“We’re on a break,” Louis sighs. “And there’s still drama and shit and the media is still having a field day over the baby that isn’t even fuckin’ real. And sometimes I wish I could just scream that out to the world. That ‘m not the asshole father who was barely there for her during the pregnancy that never happened. I’m so fuckin’ sick of this, Haz.”

“It’ll be over before you know it, beautiful,” Harry soothes. “Now just lay back and let me take care of you. Forget about them. They don’t matter tonight. It’s you and me, alone, where no one can tell us that our relationship is going to be the failure of our band. So let’s just live now, yeah? The rest can be dealt with later.”

Louis smiles and closes his eyes again, sliding down in the lukewarm water and resting his head right over Harry’s heart. He feels Harry wind his arms around his abdomen, and it all just feels right.

If only this moment could last forever. If only.


End file.
